Purpose

The NHS Health Checks programme is a
nationally mandated Public Health Programme in England under the
responsibility of Local Authorities. It is one of the largest
prevention programmes of its kind in the world, designed to help
prevent and detect early signs of stroke, heart disease, kidney
disease, Type 2 diabetes or dementia and offer support and advice
to help reduce of manage the risk.
Although it is a national programme, Doncaster wishes to commission
a Service that best meets the needs of the local population and
communities. Statistical comparison data shows the health of
Doncaster’s population is generally worse than the regional
and national averages. The Covid-19 Pandemic has further revealed
and amplified the inequalities in health and there are clear
socio-economic and ethnic inequalities in risk mortality.

Content

To award Randox Health London Ltd the Contract
to deliver the NHS Health Checks Service in Doncaster commencing
5th February 2024. The Service will provide NHS Health Checks to
identified eligible individuals to meet the needs of the local
population. A key focus of the Service is to prioritise those most
at risk and to contribute to the aim of reducing health
inequalities in Doncaster.
Following approval through a key decision and options appraisal to
the Portfolio holder (Councillor Nigel Ball), the Council sought to
commission a new Provider in November 2021 and then again in
November 2022. Although there was some initial interest, engagement
from the Market was low and did not meet the requirements
specified. This coupled with the current climate, and
recommendations from PHE regarding the future transformation of the
NHS Health Check programme; the Council made the decision not to
award the Contract.
Further extensive research was undertaken with neighbouring local
authorities and some market testing with potential providers and
the decision was to go out to tender again on a reduced financial
envelope and corresponding scaled down targets of numbers of
checks. This was comparable to our local statistical
neighbours.
In the absence of the new Provider Selection Regime procurement
rules, approval was granted in April 2023 to hold a soft market
engagement event with a view to undertaking a third Procurement in
Summer 2023.
A key emphasis of the new Service will be to offer flexible and
innovative ways of delivering this Service and prioritise and
engage with those most at risk of developing cardio-vascular
disease; those most affected by COVID-19 and those that engage less
well with Primary Care. The prime focus will be around the
Core20Plus 5 approach in the newly promoted Service to tackle the
health inequalities and focus on the most at risk.
As a result of an open Invitation to Tender (ITT) process which
closed in September 2023, an evaluation panel of three
representatives from The Council’s Public Health Teams and
the South Yorkshire ICB, went through a rigorous evaluation and
moderation process to assess the quality of the bids received. The
outcome agreed that Randox Health London Ltd had exceeded the
quality score and demonstrated they had the capability to provide
the Service as described in the Specification.